Wheel assemblies that utilize wheel appliqués to decorate the external or outboard surfaces of plain steel wheels are well known and are far less expensive to produce than one-piece decorative wheels that have to be formed and finished.
Wheel appliqués can be secured to wheels by various mechanical engaging structures and/or by adhesives. U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,845 to Maloney et al. discloses a vehicle wheel cover retention system in which the annular lip of the wheel cover is configured to spring outwardly into a groove provided in the inner surface of the wheel. U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,423 to Heck et al. discloses a vehicle wheel cover retention system in which the outer end of the wheel cover is deformed to cover the outer peripheral end of the outboard bead seat retaining flange of the wheel. Both U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,845 to Maloney et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,423 to Heck et al. utilize an adhesive in cooperation with their respective mechanical engaging structures.
Many wheel assemblies include decorative wheel covers that are adhesively attached to underlying wheels. U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,501 to Derleth discloses the use of a foamable adhesive that is used to secure a decorative cover to a wheel. The decorative cover in Derleth is configured to have variations in contour in a direction transverse to the axis of the wheel which exceed the variations in the rim and/or disc contour of the wheel, which variations would be extremely difficult and expensive, if not impossible, to stamp or draw in the disc of the wheel. During assembly, a foamable adhesive is coated on the wheel, and the decorative cover is then quickly clamped to the wheel before the adhesive begins to foam. As the adhesive foams, void spaces between the wheel and cover are filled with the foamed adhesive.
Turbine or brake vent openings are a necessary element in today's wheel systems in providing proper cooling to brake systems. In addition the aesthetics of endless configurations of turbine or brake vent openings add individuality and style to a vehicle wheels. The inclusion of turbine or brake vent openings in wheels and wheel covers creates problems with the use of adhesives. In order to use foamable adhesives, it may be necessary to use some additional structure to seal large openings such as turbine or brake vent openings to prevent the foamable adhesive from escaping through the opening rather than spread evenly or completely between a wheel and wheel cover.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,158 to Maloney et al. discloses a vehicle cover retention system and method for producing the same. Maloney et al. applies an adhesive in a pattern, which when pressed between the wheel cover and wheel can fill less that the entire gap between the wheel cover and wheel, but nevertheless is effective to prevent water, mud and debris from entering into any voids or gaps between the wheel cover and wheel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,106,075 to Suenaga discloses a wheel assembly that includes at least one pocket for altering a resonance frequency of vibrations of the wheel body. A vibration dampening material such as water, other liquids, silicone, natural or synthetic rubbers, urethane foams or other foams, etc. is provided in the pocket(s).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,654 to Chase discloses the use of spacing elements 24 that are made from a heat-resistant structural foam material and provided in voids defined between axially spaced apart portions of a wheel cover and an underlying wheel. The spacing elements serve to prevent the entrapment of water and dirt between the wheel cover and underlying wheel which would otherwise promote corrosion and cause balancing problems for the wheel assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,225 to Ferriss et al. discloses a vehicle wheel assembly that includes a wheel cover or appliqué that is adhered to an insert member, which insert member is adhered and/or locked to an underlying steel wheel. The insert member (50) of Ferriss et al. is a full sized element that is stated to be molded to change the depth and contour of the wheel face from the original steel wheel.
The present invention provides inserts for wheel assemblies that are located between decorative wheel covers and underlying wheels which inserts prevent damage to the decorative wheel cover and avoid the wheel assembly from seeming hollow.